


Piano Man

by preciousbunnynoiz



Series: Emotions!!! on Ice [34]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Communication, Confident Katsuki Yuuri, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Summer of mutual pining, Talking, Yuuri plays the piano
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 11:41:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14748159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preciousbunnynoiz/pseuds/preciousbunnynoiz
Summary: Victor and Yuuri have a conversation while Yuuri plays music on his keyboard.





	Piano Man

Victor stopped in the hallway outside his room, his hand still on the frame.

A hauntingly beautiful piece of piano music could be heard. It seemed to be coming from Yuuri’s room but it wasn’t a piece he knew. 

He stood entranced for a moment before the music pulled him slowly towards the source.

He raised his hand to knock so he could ask Yuuri what the song was and where he could buy it when he froze for the second time in as many minutes.

Because it wasn’t a track.

It was Yuuri.

A keyboard in front of him as he moved his fingers expertly and passionately over the keys. 

Victor could barely breathe as Yuuri swayed with the music, his eyes closed as he lost himself in the rise and fall of the melody.

Then it was over.

Yuuri turned and jumped when he saw Victor standing there staring at him with one hand raised.

“I didn’t know you played” Victor heard himself say. Yuuri predictably blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Ah, yeah...usually I wear headphones. Sorry if I disturbed you, I’ll be better about that in future” and of course that’s where Yuuri would go with this.

“No!” Victor probably said that too loudly based on how Yuuri jumped, “I mean you didn’t disturb me, I actually was going to ask you what you were listening to because I was enjoying it before I realised you were playing.” which...Victor hadn’t meant to reveal that but based on how Yuuri smiled, all pleased with himself, it was clearly the right thing to say.

“O-oh...Um did you want to come in?” really the right thing to say then. They had gotten closer since the beach but it was still rare for Yuuri to welcome Victor into his room.

Victor was not going to let this opportunity go to waste so he happily came in and sat on the bed. The room was small and Yuuri had pushed his desk out of the way so he could have his keyboard set up.

He turned his back on Victor but it didn’t seem dismissive. Yuuri started playing a bright little melody as Victor watched him, grateful for this chance to watch an unguarded Yuuri.

“When did you learn how to play?” Victor asked after a little while.

Yuuri didn’t answer immediately, his fingers running over the keys as gracefully as his body on ice.

“When I started with ballet I loved it. I wanted to be just like Minako but it was quickly clear to her that I was mentally weak.” Yuuri finally began. Victor bit his tongue to stop himself from arguing. 

Yuuri had anxiety, that wasn’t the same as being mentally weak, but if Victor pointed it out Yuuri would withdraw.

“When I feel anxious I always want to practice. I’ve always been like that, from the time I started ballet to now.” the music Yuuri created took on a mournful air, “When I was nine I collapsed from overwork when I danced through a rest day in my room. I had been anxious and even though Minako forbade me from dancing I needed to keep moving. To get it out of me.” 

Victor’s heart clenched in sympathy for tiny Yuuri. Anxious and stressed and pushing himself more than a child ever should. He didn’t understand anxiety enough but he understood being your own worst enemy. 

“Minako yelled at me but when I explained she got quiet. The next day she asked me what instrument was my favourite. I’ve always preferred piano pieces, it just seemed magical and grand. So that was my answer. A week later she burst into my room with a keyboard and said she’d signed me up to piano lessons.” The music took on a playful, light mood.

“She insisted on paying for them herself. She blamed herself for not seeing the signs that I was overworking myself. She thought that playing music would absorb that need for energy and practice without straining my body. It worked too.” the music was almost bubbling up with joy now as Yuuri smiled to himself.

“Now when I’m feeling anxious on a rest day or when I really shouldn’t press myself I play music. I don’t keep up with it the way I used to but I try to play a little every day.” Yuuri turned now to smile shyly at Victor, “I’m glad you don’t think it’s too bad”

“You play beautifully Yuuri” Victor assured him, rejoicing in the pleased blush that simple sentence brought to Yuuri’s face.

Victor listened to him play a bit more.

“I actually play violin.” Victor offered and immediately regretted it as Yuuri hit a discordant sound, whirling around bright eyed and eager.

“Really?! I never knew that!” he seemed excited but Victor could feel the embarrassment crawling over his own face.

“Ah but I can’t play like you can. Yakov likes all of his skaters to take up an instrument just like he requires us to take ballet and ballroom dancing as well as our normal training. He’s of the idea that classical instruments make us more responsible. I like the violin and enjoyed learning it but I haven’t played in a few years. I’m probably pathetically rusty. I just couldn’t...find the time” not that Victor had found the time for much the last couple of years. He just hadn’t seen the point in anything but skating...and sometimes not even that.

Things were different now but he lived in fear of that apathy returning.

“That’s still really cool!” Yuuri turned back to the piano his fingers picking out a new melody, “It is hard to find the time to practice my piano but one day....” Yuuri hesitated and Victor couldn’t help but nudge gently.

“One day?” 

Yuuri glanced back at him and then turned back to the keyboard, smiling softly.

“I don’t have many dreams or aspirations for my future not involving skating but I do have one. Maybe dream or aspiration is the wrong way to look at it...more like a vision?” Yuuri was now playing something soft and dreamlike.

“Of?” Victor tried not to sound too eager or too dismissive but it was hard because he  _ was _ eager. It was rare for Yuuri to open up like this.

“Someday, I would like to have my own place. An apartment or maybe a house and in that house I’ll have a baby grand piano of my very own and I’ll start each day after breakfast playing for the sheer joy of it, a dog at my feet.” Yuuri’s smile was as wistful as the tune he played.

“Are you alone in this house?” Victor wanted to beg to be included in this vision.

Yuuri smiled broader.

“When I was younger I used to imagine Yuuko there until I realised that crush was going nowhere. Then I it was either some vague faceless boy or girl or…” Yuuri paused, his fingers stilling as he stared at the wall in front of him

“Or?” Victor  prompted again.

Yuuri turned and looked him straight in the eye.

“Or my idol” 

Victor froze. He knew he had been Yuuri’s idol. He wasn’t stupid and the others teased both Yuuri and Victor about it enough both together and separately that it would have been impossible  _ not _ to work it out.

Whatever Yuuri saw on Victor’s face apparently pleased him though as he grinned and turned back to the keyboard, his fingers playing a happy melody.

“Of course I don’t see my idol now” and that  _ hurt. _

“Oh…” Victor tried to swallow the pain but it felt like his throat was full of needles.

“Idols are great from a distance but up close you need someone real. Someone human” and couldn’t Yuuri stop ripping out Victor’s heart?

“I’m glad I got to meet Victor” Yuuri continued as if he hadn’t just broke his heart, “Victor is much better than the idol Victor Nikiforov. I could never  _ really _ imagine Victor Nikiforov living legend sitting with me on a piano bench drinking coffee and watching me play. But Victor? Victor I could see drinking tea with disgusting jam in it and laughing as I play.”

Victor who had been on the verge of tears froze as what Yuuri actually said made its way into his brain.

It hadn’t been rejection it had been...acceptance? 

“Real is better don’t you think?” Yuuri asked and Victor let himself smile as the needles in his throat and chest were replaced with a soft warmth.

“...Yeah, yeah I do”

“We should play together sometime” Yuuri suggested.

“I’ll likely be terrible” Victor warned but Yuuri just smiled wider.

“I’m counting on it”

**Author's Note:**

> I just like the idea of Yuuri playing the piano so he doesn't overwork himself but also to control his anxiety.
> 
> Also hi! I haven't been writing much! If you don't follow my tumblr what you might not know is that I was in hospital for a week because of blood clots on my lungs that almost killed me! I'm okay now but I took a long time to recover. 
> 
> And when I mean I almost died I mean it. I got a ride in an ambulance and was on oxygen for 5 days.
> 
> So I'm just getting back into the swing of things again....please be patient with me.


End file.
